Hard Justice
Hard Justice is a Halo 3 machinima series made by DigitalPh33r. It follows the events of police officer Bernard Brown in the city of Esoteria. Episodes Episode 1 In the city of Esoteria, two cops are attempting a break-in on a criminal. They are Max Dangerfield and Edward Stryker. Max is battle-ready, but Eddie is a little unnerved. When he pulls himself together, he attempts to open the unlocked door, but Max instead blows it up with a Rocket Launcher. Breaching, Max walks to the computer, where he finds out that the "criminal" was downloading music. Eddie throws up, and Max reluctantly tells him that he downloaded three tracks, making Eddie even more sick. The apartment owner comes in to the crime scene and is greeted by the officer's Assault Rifles. Max tells him to get on the ground and that they are part of the Eradication of Repulsive Evil and Corruption Team (ERECT). Max attempts to cuff him while the civillain defends himself, but Max believes that downloading three songs is equal to murdering three people. Eddie soon gets too scared and starts firing at random, giving the civillian a chance to escape. The cops follow him and Max destroys the civillian's Warthog. Eddie successfully tazers the "criminal" twice, one time downing him, and the other because he resisted the electricity. At Esoteria International Airport, a man walks up to the security guard waiting for him. He says he is Bernard Brown, an ex-cop from Regent City, who fled the place because it was becoming a socialist state. When the guard questions why he's nervous, Bernard says it's a vicious cycle of coming to the next checkpoint because he was nervous from the previous checkpoint, continuing on. He is then ordered to see the guard down the hall. As Bernard leaves, an Elite walks up to the first guard. The guard orders him down the hall and doesn't ask any questions, a sign of racism against the Elites. Bernard looks at "Looking for Hire" posters in the airport, and find only two jobs available: one at the Police Department, and one at Reggie's Bar and Grill. At ERECT Command, Max and Eddie bring in their two prisoners to their Sergeant, Howard Marshall. The music downloader asks the other civillain why he is in jail, and says he is under assault charges, when really he farted in a tollbooth and the officer near him thought he was trying to get out of paying a 25 cent toll. Howard tells the cops they can't call it a night yet--there's been a carjacking at Reggie's Bar and Grill. Episode 2 Bernard is interviewed by the owner of Reggie's Bar and Grill, but is turned down because of his lack of interest in the job. Down the street, a carjacker steals a civillian's car and unsuccessfully tries to turn around in it. Bernard catches and subdues the jacker in time for ERECT to arrive. When they come, they almost destroy the civillian and find Bernard left on the scene. Eddie is ordered to tazer everyone on sight. Bernard is later held at gunpoint in ERECT Command, and Howard Marshall interrogates him, very foolishly. After Bernard reveals his name, Howard remembers hearing about him being in Regent City. He also tells him the carjacker may be affilliated with the terrorist organization known as Twisted Coercion, and the EPD has a shortage of staff to fight them. Howard offers Bernard a job in the ERECT. Bernard denies, saying he moved to Esoteria specifically to avoid being part of the problem. Leaving, Bernard is followed by Eddie, who says that he is influenced by Max, and not everything about ERECT is all bad. Eddie says he could really make a difference if he joined the force, but doesn't want to interfere with Bernard's life, so he leaves him to ponder on the sidewalk. Episode 3 After ignoring all the important police reports (most mentioning dead officers), Howard sends ERECT on a mission to calm a disturbance caused by a neighbor having his music on too loud at 507 Washington Avenue. As the cops leave the main office, Bernard comes back in to say he wants to join the force. In the garage, Bernard listens to the radio and hears about a homicide at 4283 Granville Street. He thinks it is more important than the disturbance, but Max follows orders and proceeds to 507 Washington. Bernard and Eddie arrive at an apartment and are met by the landlord. He directs them to a man with no limbs and no head. The landlord asked for his rent fee, and got suspicious when he didn't respond. When Bernard is done, Eddie shows his idiocracy by theorizing that it may have been a suicide, even due to the fact that his door was broken down, his blood splattered all over the wall and the man limbless. Bernard leaves, responding to Howard's call, and Eddie scans the apartment for semen. Howard tells Bernard that he has been driving to and from the crime scene without a certified Esoteria driver's liscence, and that his Regent City liscence is invalid. Howard schedules a driving lesson for Bernard to get an Esoteria liscence and says he will discuss Bernard's possible jail time later. Eddie calls to report that the whole apartment is covered in semen, but Bernard insists that it is blood. Eddie's ends the episode by realizing that it's blood and saying, "then that means...yep...he's dead." Episode 4 Bernard reports back to Howard, who is playing Runescape. He asks where Eddie and Max are, and finds out they are in the lab. Bernard leaves Howard, seeing his laxitivity by playing Runescape instead of doing his job. In the lab, Eddie is playing Runescape too, and Max gets off the phone with his girlfriend. Bernard sees the department as a "gongshow", where no one is investigating the mutilated body. Bernard soon finds out the Governor of Esoteria closed the case, so they cannot legally perform a DNA test on the victim. Bernard can't deal with the nonsense anymore, and takes Eddie to his driving test while Max runs the test, not following orders. Ironically, after Eddie saying he has never been in an accident before, a car driven by an insurance company businessman crashes into them. The banker claims he had a green light while Bernard says he totally ignored the speed limit. The banker also claims he was in a hurry and is phoned by his boss. After more of Bernard's taunting and comparing him to Marty McFly, the banker screws him and leaves. In the lab, Max tells Howard he successfully ran the test, depite it being off-limits, and found out that the victim was associated with Twisted Coercion. At the Insurance Company of Esoteria Driving Center, Bernard finds the banker who crashed into him earlier. He finds out that he is a driving instructor, and that Bernard has an appointment with him. Episode 5 In ERECT Command, Howard gets a call from the Governor about the illegal DNA test performed by Max. The Governor is extremely displeased about the test, and further aggrivated when he learns that Howard didn't inform him of their new team member. The Governor then leaves to see Bernard, who will not be back from his driving test in an hour. Bernard takes his driving test with the banker who he recently crashed into, and accuses him and the insurance companies of Esoteria to be milking people's money and going out of their way to make themselves more powerful. When he finally finishes, the banker says that the police force is destroying all privacy in the city and arrests people for "anything short of sneezing". Bernard recognizes the socialist nature of the force, but explains he wants to break the mold and make things better in Esoteria than he did in Regent City. Bernard expects him to fail the test, but instead is passed by the banker. Bernard comes back to be introduced to the Governor of Esoteria, Roman Drake, who turns out to be a spoiled, egotistical, anger-prone prick. Roman sourly informs Bernard about him disobeying orders and running the test, saying that the main police force is handling the situation, and he's only letting Bernard off the hook because of "good will". He scorningly remarks that if Bernard disobeys him again he will make his life a "living hell." Bernard is astonished that ERECT has no idea what Roman is up to. Roman elaborately put ERECT together to distract them with extremely minor crimes so he can cover up what he is hiding. He leaves Howards office while he starts to play Left 4 Dead. Episode 6 Bernard walks in to ERECT to find Eddie doing donuts in the garage, followed soon by Max and then Howard. After looking at some of Howard's "private" files on his computer, Howard tells him that there have been no broadcasts of crime. Of course, this is because the radio was turned off. Bernard goes down to the lab to do a DNA test on the mutilated body, this time he focuses on the DNA of the man who killed the victim. Eddie is reluctant to help him because the case is off-limits, but joins Bernard for the greater good. With the DNA of the killer, Bernard and Eddie set out to find him. At the main office, Howard believes that Eddie and Bernard are going out for ice cream. There is also a minor disturbance at the Esoteria Shopping Center. He sends Max to tackle the case. Bernard explains how he can find the killer by using his microchip implanted in his helmet that can be tracked by satellite as a beacon, and they only needed a name. Bernard traces him to a strip joint and prepare to confront the suspect. Episode 7 Howard is rudely awakened from his unnverving dream with the Master Chief to answer a phone call by Roman. Roman demands the whereabouts of ERECT, and he is insistant to know where Bernard is. At the strip joint known as the Esoteria Gentlemen's Club, Bernard and Eddie enter to find guys, girls, and disco. They both fend off the lunatic strippers that come to them and find the suspect. While interrogating him, the suspect has no memory of killing the victim, despite his DNA on the body. He then goes to the bathroom to "take a leak", and a mysterious man in dark armor follows him in the bathroom. The suspect, while washing his hands, turns around to find the dark-armored man, who punches him into the wall and drowns him in the sink. Bernard and Eddie still wait for his return, although he has already been killed. Episode 8 Max finally arrives at the Esoteria Shopping Center, where he asks the store manager about the disturbance. The manager points out a strange and perverted man who has been annoying customers and asking everyone the same questions. Max goes to confront him, but instead ends up accepting his invitation to his apartment for cheescake and movies. In Twisted Coercion Headquarters, the assailant from the strip club reports to his boss about Bernard, saying he "took the bait" and was digging too deep. He then awaits his next orders. Bernard and Eddie return to Howard in the main office, where Bernard explains the event. Their murder suspect, a Twisted Coercion member named Richard Berkley, came to the strip joint for a while when ERECT tracked him. While in the middle of interrogation, he had to take a leak and stayed in the bathroom for 10 minutes. When Bernard went to investigate, he found him dead in the room. When Bernard realizes Howard is paying absolutely no attention and is playing his video game, he says that the victim returned to life naked and tried to make out with Eddie. Howard grunts, and Bernard finally gives up and starts talking to the wall. Right when he turns to go to the morgue to perform an autopsy, Roman comes on the radio for Bernard. On speakerphone, Roman tells Bernard that he has a solo assignment for him to investigate a body in the abandoned Esoteria Chemical Facility, saying he will prepare a team of officers should he need them. He also gives Eddie an assignment, to investigate a vandalism at Reggie's Bar and Grill. Bernard doesn't have a good feeling, and suggests Eddie go with him. But Eddie, in fear of losing his job, denies. Bernard sets off, and Eddie calls Reggie's to validate their complaint. Strangely, they have not made any police reports, and Eddie realizes Bernard is walking into a trap. Episode 9 At the Weird Guy's apartment, Max is watching "Indian in the Cupboard" with the strange man from the Shopping Center. When the movie finishes, he attempts to leave, but the Weird Guy forces him to stay. Max is torn between reporting the Weird Guy to the EPD or staying as a guest. In the abandoned chemical plant in Esoteria Industrial, Bernard walks through a good portion of the plant to realize no one's there. He tries to radio Howard, but Howard is too busy on the department's speakerphone, listening to his voice echo. He finally finds a man. He is Mason Clark--Twisted Coercion affiliate, and the assailant from the strip club. Bernard asks him who he is, only to have him locked in a containment field and a poison gas dispensed through the entire plant. Bernard radios Howard again, but he still won't pick up. Bernard runs into Eddie, who came because he thought he was running into a trap, obvious now. Eddie identifies the chemical as chlorine gas, and their suits can only filter it for five more minutes, and the nearest exit is eight minutes away. They start to search for ammonia, and when they don't, Bernard orders Eddie to look for some cloth. Urine contains a small amount of ammonia and can act as a chlorine filter when close to the mouth or nose. Eddie is reluctant to piss in the rag, so Bernard knocks him out with a swing of his rifle. Episode 10 In the Weird Guy's apartment, Max is being forced to watch the entire disc set of "Sex and the City". Max hopes the department doesn't need him, until he realizes he will have to stay for a matter of days to finish all the videos. Eddie wakes up with a rag in his mouth, and Bernard has one too. Bernard had to open Eddie's visor to get the rag in, and he now thinks he found an escape route. Escaping through a waste disposal sewer, Bernard finds out that Eddie's radio works, and Howard is too busy playing Devil May Cry 4 to send help. Bernard finds out his radio doesn't work, and it is either broken or remotely disabled. Eddie instead radios Max, who is thankful for recieving the call, and gets in his Warthog to pick up Bernard and Eddie. The Weird Guy insists he come along and gets in his vehicle. At waste disposal, the Weird Guy is taking up room in the car. He thinks that they can make a second trip for him, but Bernard forces him out and Max floors it.